Streaming video site Hulu is about to become a lot less attractive to customers looking to "cut the cord" and watch TV and movies without subscribing to a cable service.

The New York Post reports that Hulu plans to switch its paid Hulu Plus service to an "authentication" model, which will require customers to log in using a cable provider account. That's right: no cable, no Hulu plus.

The move is so controversial that one of Hulu's investors, Providence Equity Partners, cashed out of the company after five years. Hulu's other owners, News Corp., Disney and Comcast, have obvious incentives to force customers into cable subscriptions.

If there's one bright spot here, it's that creating a system of authentication could take years to complete, which will hopefully give the cable providers enough time to change their tune and work with their customers instead of against them.

[nypost.]